1. Field
The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to nuclear power generation systems and, more particularly, to a support apparatus for supporting a dosimetry system in proximity to a reactor apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
As is generally understood in the relevant art, nuclear power plants typically employ a number of reactor apparatuses to generate thermal power which is, in turn, converted into electrical power. As employed herein, the expression “a number of” and variations thereof shall refer broadly to any non-zero quantity, including a quantity of one. For safety reasons and for other reasons, it is often desirable to place about the exterior of a reactor apparatus a number of dosimetry devices that are configured to enable one to retrospectively characterize the radiation environment experienced by the devices over time. For example, one type of dosimetry system is an ex-vessel neutron dosimetry (EVND) system that includes a set of dosimetry capsules that are connected together by lengths of chain and are contained within a nuclear containment at the exterior of a reactor pressure vessel. While such systems have been generally effective for their intended purposes, they have not been without limitation.
In particular, such dosimetry systems must be removed from their position in proximity to the reactor apparatus in order to be analyzed and to obtain dosimetry information therefrom. A replacement dosimetry system then must be installed in place of the dosimetry system that has been removed. Since space typically is limited in the regions peripheral to a reactor apparatus, the initial installation and continued replacement of dosimetry systems can be difficult. Such difficulty can be compounded by the fact that such regions typically can be accessed only from areas below the reactor assembly or above the reactor assembly. Moreover, since the dosimetry data that is obtained from dosimetry systems is meaningful only when the precise positions of the dosimetry capsules is known, some difficulty has been encountered in reliably positioning ex-vessel dosimetry system in nuclear environments.